Tulane women’s basketball opened their first week of the season with a 1-1 record. The Green Wave began their season with a dominant 72-46 victory over Grambling State then a hard-fought 61-72 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Green Wave rolled over the Grambling State Tigers behind a bombardment of three-pointers. The team shot an absurd 56.5% from behind the arc, making 13 out of 23 attempts. The team was careful with their shot selection, shooting an efficient 53.1% from the field while making the Tigers fight for points on every possession. Tulane played a physical brand of defense that held the Tigers to just 30.8% from the field and just 2-19 from behind the arc.

Graduate student Marta Galic was doing it all in this match. The guard put up a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, leading the team in both stats. She also had a blistering 5-8 shooting night from three, working her way around the court to get open looks from deep.

The Green Wave’s playmaking played an important part in the dominant win. The team scored 21 times off of assists, with seven of those coming from graduate transfer Rachel Hakes. The newcomer adds another element to the team’s offense, setting up her teammates for easy buckets. Head coach Lisa Stockton praised her team after the win for how they shared the rock. She said that the goal from last season was 18 assists a game, “anything over we knew we could win those games.”

The team appeared to lose their strong shooting touch in the 72-61 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide. The team struggled to put up any points in the first half, shooting a poor 10/33 from the field while going down 38-24. The team attempted to rally back with 21 points in the fourth quarter, but the deficit was too great to overcome. 

The starters struggled to score efficiently, but fought hard on the defensive end. Hakes and Dynah Jones got three and four steals respectively, helping their team score 16 points off of the forced turnovers. The bench was able to pick up the offensive slack with 32 points. Irina Pirau led the team with 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Kyrin Whittington scored 12 points off the bench. 

The Green Wave also recently welcomed two new players from the signing class of 2023. The team signed 5-foot, 8-inch guard Joy Madison-Key out of Grand Prairie, Texas as well as 6-foot, 3-inch center Lilybeth Ba from Overland Park, Kansas. The two will get the chance to join coach Stockton and the team next season.

The team will attempt to return to form with a matchup against the University of South Alabama Jaguars in Mobile, Alabama this Thursday. Then they will return to New Orleans this Sunday for a home game against Sam Houston.